ORLANDO, Fla. — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian wasn’t sure what to expect in the Citrus Bowl without nine starters, either because of injury or the transfer portal. So he was elated to see Christian Carter and Kaliq Lockett deliver big plays Wednesday in a 41-27 victory over No. 18 Michigan.
Of course, he had quarterback Arch Manning. Ultimately, that was all that mattered.
Manning took over the Citrus Bowl with his arm and his legs, an electric performance capped off by a clinching 60-yard scoring run that carried No. 14 Texas to another 10-win season.
“It meant a lot. Just staying the course and continuing to compete,” Manning said. “We had a month of preparation before this. It was cool to cap it off the way we did.”
Manning threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns, one of them a 30-yarder he dropped perfectly into the arms of Kaliq Lockett, who saw more action due to an injury.
He rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two fourth-down conversions, one of them for 19 yards that set up a short TD run by Christian Carter, who was starting because the leading three running backs for Texas are entering the portal.
Carter ran for 105 yards on 20 carries.
“We played without nine starters,” Sarkisian said. “And it created great opportunities. … That’s the culture we have here.”
Texas (10-3) put away its frustration of getting left out of the College Football Playoffs and not having 20 scholarship players suited up in practice with a strong performance that brought another dose of optimism for a team that started the year as the preseason No. 1 in the AP poll.
Manning was an easy choice as the Citrus Bowl MVP, and that was before he burst up the middle on his 60-yarder that gave the Longhorns a 38-27 lead, the first time all game either team led by more than one score.
It was similar to the performance of another No. 16 in an orange jersey — uncle Peyton Manning at Tennessee, who threw for 408 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in a Citrus Bowl win over Northwestern in 1997.
“No disrespect to the Citrus Bowl, I think he was here twice,” Manning said of Uncle Peyton. “I’m not trying to come back again.”
It was a crushing end to a chaotic month for Michigan. Coach Sherrone Moore was fired three weeks ago for having an extramarital affair with a staffer, and he was arrested and charged with three crimes later in the day for breaking into the woman’s home.
Michigan also is on NCAA probation for recruiting violations, and the school says the fines and penalties will result in a $30 million loss.
Longtime Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was hired to replace Moore.
Biff Poggi lost for the first time as Michigan’s interim coach. Poggi coached victories over Nebraska and Central Michigan when Moore served a two-game suspension related to the sign-stealing scandal from 2023.
Poggi said he would not be returning to Michigan under Whittingham.
“I thought the kids played hard,” Poggi said. “This isn’t a rebuild at all. That would be short changing kids. I think coach Whittingham is going to do a fantastic job. I think he is going to find a very full cupboard, a bunch of really willing kids who are great kids.”
Whittingham, who arrived in Orlando on Saturday to start meeting with players, watched from the box at the Citrus Bowl. He takes over a Michigan team (9-4) that produced a strong running game and played tough on defense despite missing its top two defenders who opted out of the game.
But there was no answer for Manning, who accounted for about 80% of the Longhorns’ offense.
Bryce Underwood, Michigan’s freshman quarter, kept the Wolverines in the game until a pair of late interceptions sealed it. He was 23 of 42 for 199 yards and two touchdowns, along with three interceptions in the last 18 minutes of the game.
Underwood, who ran for 77 yards, scampered for a 5-yard touchdown run by diving to touch the pylon, giving Michigan its last lead at 27-24 with just under 11 minutes to go. But his pass was intercepted by Ty’Anthony Smith over the middle after Texas had taken the lead, and Smith got another pick along the sideline on the next drive.
